Homeschool Items – May 16, 2012

1.1 Home Front Educators’ Used Curriculum Sale – Lynchburg – Sale Is May 18 and 19 1.2 IEW- High School Essay Intensive – Richmond – June 7 1.3 BOOK IT! Enrollment Time – Deadline Is September 1 1.4 Ballet: Coppélia or The Girl with the Enamel Eyes – Bridgewater – May 19 or 20

Friday, May 18, 2012, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday, May 19, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Drop off books at Grace Church on Thursday, May 17, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Be sure to bring a self-addressed, stamped envelope with you–to mail your check, which will be 90 percent of the total sale price–and a seller’s agreement (printed from the website) that has been signed and filled out. Pick up any books that didn’t sell on Saturday, May 19, between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., unless you would like to donate them. Any books not claimed by 4 p.m. will become the property of Home Front Educators.

Home Front Educators’ Used Curriculum Sale will offer two days to shop and sell. Please share the word with friends and fellow homeschoolers. In 2011, there were over 1,500 items for sale! To sell, simply go online, enter your books, print and affix labels as directed, and keep a master list. Drop them off, pick up what didn’t sell, and in a few days, you will receive a check for 90 percent of your sales. You don’t have to do any figuring, fiddle for change, or even remain at the sale to sell!

Thursday, June 7, 2012, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. There will be a lunch break from approximately 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m.; students may bring a lunch, or go out and return promptly. Cost: $50/student; $25/accompanying adult. The workshop contains distinctly Christian content and is recommended for high school students. The workshop will take registrations until seats are full.

The High School Essay Intensive class provides immediate experience and inside tips on how a student can do his best on the timed, 25-minute response to a prompt required on the SAT and/or ACT tests. Participants will actually write two full essays, carefully study them, and then apply the College Board evaluation criteria to sample essays. Students will also receive a detailed booklet of resources and lesson plans for continued practice.

Additionally, students will learn special structure and style tools for use in composing the college application “personal essay.” Students will learn to choose the question, create the outline, and polish a final version. Participants will leave with a clear concept of the task, their own outline for an actual personal essay, and several new techniques to add to their repertoire.

Although this seminar is specifically designed for those who will be taking the SAT/ACT or submitting college applications within the next one to two years (and especially for those who are teaching such students), it is also useful for general writing practice, tools, and tips. It is open to all students, regardless of their experience with IEW courses or materials. A lot of actual writing is done during this six-hour class.

Deadline is September 1, 2012; however, the program will continue to accept enrollment requests on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last.

Homeschool families enroll individually via the online form for BOOK IT! Students in grades kindergarten through six are asked to read a certain number of books on their level;these goals are set by the teacher/parent.Students will earn a free personal pizza monthly as they meet their goals during the “school year.”

If your family is moving, please provide the address you will have in September (when they will be shipped) as materials cannot be forwarded. Materials will not ship until September and will not forward; therefore, if you are planning on moving, please wait to enroll until you have your new address.

Homeschooled high school seniors will star in the Rockingham Ballet Theatre performance of Coppélia, or The Girl with the Enamel Eyes. This comic ballet is about a girl, Swanilda, and her fiancé, Franz, and the mysterious girl, Coppélia, who comes between them. This hilarious tale of mistaken identity is set in a Hungarian village of yore on the eve of a great festival in which the town is getting a new bell. The mayor has pledged a dowry in gold to any couples who marry during the festival. Dr. Coppélius, the town’s eccentric, mischievous inventor unleashes a series of unforeseen events with his newest and best invention.

The ballet features homeschool students, Daniel Ranck and Jessica Grant. This is Ranck’s first appearance in the lead role of a full-length classical story ballet and the first time ever in Rockingham Ballet Theatre’s history that a male student will dance a lead role in its spring ballet. Ranck was accepted with a scholarship to an American Ballet Theatre summer intensive. He and Miss Grant will be coached by Phillip Skaggs of Richmond Ballet. Grant will be attending the Richmond Ballet summer intensive. Several other homeschooled students from the area are also dancing in the production.